Greywind

6 hours ago, Asperion said:

You put in sleep,  how about the opposite  -

Darkness 

 

Some extras  -

 

Tripping 

Hail of Thorns 

Magic Sense 

Locator (not all need be combat oriented)

Generator (Food/Water/Gas/Etc)

I figured being awake is the opposite of sleep. Darkness tends to be the opposite of light.

Ash slung a messenger bag over her shoulder. She slid the envelope with her photo in. Then she stuffed the doll in. Closing the bag and snapping it shut, one of the doll's arms popped out the side of the flap. Ash stuffed the arm back in and a foot popped out the other side.

She sighed. “Okay, so not one of the bigger ones. I get it. I'm not going to fight with you about it.” Ash made her way to the elevator. She tapped the button and waited. When the door opened, she stepped inside, tapping the button for the upper garage.

“Hold please!” Ash held the door button. Trese slipped inside. “Thanks. Common.” Ash tapped the button for the common floor. “Garage? Going out?”

“Hospital.”

“Time for a check up?” Trese teased.

Ash shook her head. “Visit.”

“Your doll is trying to escape.”

“Yeah. First the arm. Now the leg. If I try shoving the leg back in, the head will pop out or something.”

“Hate it when they do that.” Ash nodded in agreement, but remained silent. After a few moments, Trese said, “Are you okay? You seem a little pensive.”

“I'm fine. Just have a few things on my mind.” Ash glanced at Trese. “I'm fine. Really. Thanks for the concern.”

The door to the garage opened up. “Your bike is prepped,” Mentor said.

“Thanks, Jeeves. I'm not sure when I'll be back. Later,” she said, waving off to Trese.

* * * * *

Charley watched the air bike dwindle into the distance. The flash drive in her hand seemed to be burning her palm. “Mentor, isolate my work station, please.”

“May I ask why?”

She held the drive up. “I want to see what is on this. I don't want or need to find out there is a virus on it that will compromise your systems. I don't need Jason pissed at me.”

A narrow drawer in her work station slid out, revealing a tablet. “Perhaps this will suit your needs. I have disabled its ability to connect with the rest of the tower's network.”

“Thanks.”

The door to her apartment opened, allowing a drone access. “Your second package is here. My scans show it to be a pair of high heeled pumps. The weight seems off. I would say that it would be for the size you wear, but in comparison to some of your other footwear, the weight is more commensurate with some of your boots.”

“Do you know what color they are?” Charley asked with a touch of sarcasm.

“No. The package has not been opened. Merely scanned.”

Charley powered the tablet on. While she waited for it to finish booting up, she turned her attention to the suit and the new box. “Mirror a window.” One window went dark. The inner surface was reflective. She held the jacket up to her chest. “It should fit.” She lay it on the couch. The silk blouse was a medium blue. Unfolding it, she held that up as she had the jacket. “I don't even want to think how much it would cost to have made. Maybe I'll ask George.”

She set the blouse on the jacket. Charley took the skirt out and gave it a gentle shake. Holding it to her waist, the lower hem was just above her knees. She turned a bit and noticed the skirt flair. “And slit up the side to my armpit.”

Charley tossed the skirt next to the jacket and blouse. She moved the tissue paper about in the bottom of the box, finding nothing more. “Shoes.” Holding her hand up, the drone approached and dropped the box onto her palm. The brown wrapping paper and twine were dealt with as expediently as the prior box. She flipped the lid off. “Black Italian leather.” Taking a shoe out, Charley weighed it in her hand. “I think you're right.”

“The heel is leather wrapped around a metal core, as I surmised. An educated guess on my part, but considering your weight and the narrowness of the heel, it is either omnium or a closely related alloy. Not too many can afford to have it made into such mundane objects. Nor would they.”

“Women should always flaunt their beauty, I think he said. I'd let you further analyze them, but I don't want them damaged.” She set the pair on the floor and stepped into them. “Perfect fit.”

Honey, I know I've said it too many times before. I said I'd never say it again.
I guess I shouldn't say anything at all since you're supposed to belong to him.
But I just can't let you go without telling you just how much I love you.

So that is why I'm gonna say it one more time

Honey, come back I just can't stand
Each lonely day's a little bit longer
Than the last time I held you
Seems like a hundred years ago
Back to his arms and never know
The joy of love that used to taste like
Honey, come back where you belong to only me.

Well, I guess that's about all I gotta say.
So I'm just gonna take my bags and I'm gonna walk.

I know those bright lights are callin' ya, honey.
Big fine cars and fancy clothes.
But if you ever want somebody to just love ya, and some day you just may,
just give me a call-you know where I am.

And here is what I'll say

Honey, come back where you belong to only me.
Honey, come back

where you belong to only me.
Honey, come back where you belong to only me.

1 hour ago, Bazza said:

One, you forget Ant-Man was a singular film, as was its sequel. The after credits scene from the sequel connected it to the larger story.

Except for where Tic-Tac beat up Birdman.

Because it wasn't the FF.

"Yes, Thomas. I did. Why?"

“What's this?”

“A courier dropped it by the front. I thought it might be something you ordered,” Mentor said.

Watching the drone set the package on her coffee table, Charley set the book she had been reading aside. “I haven't ordered anything.” Her full name had been written in a stylish handwriting. “Good penmanship.” Slipping her fingers under the twine, she pressed her thumbnail into it. The twine separated easily.

Peeling off the brown wrapping, Charley revealed a box from an expensive boutique. “Proof enough right there that I didn't order it.” Lifting the lid, within Charley found a dark suit. It wasn't black, but a dark gray. Pulling the jacket out, an envelope fell from the jacket onto a blue silk blouse.

“One moment. Another package for you has cleared scanning. It will be here momentarily.”

“That's fine.” Charley lay the jacket on the couch and picked up the envelope. “Did you scan this one?”

“Yes, I did. Suit and blouse. Envelope. Nothing that set off any alarms.”

There was a little thickness to the envelope at the bottom. Lifting the flap, she saw there was a piece of paper and a flash drive. Turning the drive over, Charley saw it was embossed with the logo of Nova Research. “Did you detect this?”

“No. I did not. If I may have the envelope it came in when you are done, I will see if there is something about it that confused the scanners.” Charley smiled. She got the impression that Mentor did not like things sneaking past him.

Charley read the letter. It was short. When she was done, she folded it back up. Charley stared out the windows, lost in thought.

You could always try the wayback machine to find what there was if it was archived.

I believe it was from a Spider-Man book. He was talking to Dr. Octopus about the world beaters wanting to rule the world. "And none of you have any idea what you would do with it."

“Dear Ashley Parks,” Ash smiled. There were times she really enjoyed going through the fan mail. “Spelled it wrong, kiddo,” she said to herself.

“Someday, when I'm better, I hope to be strong like you and to beat up the bad guys. Signed, Kacie.” There was a picture of Ash drawn in crayon, little more than a stick figure. Ash smiled. Behind the letter there was a photo. Ash saw a little girl laying in a hospital bed. So many tubes, she thought to herself.

Looking at the envelope she saw it had been mailed from River General. She smiled. “Get me Kris.” While she waited, she took a photo from her stack. In the photo, she was down on one knee. Her arm was across her bent knee.

“What's up?”

“You working today?” She grabbed a marker and wrote “For Kacie” across the top, then signed her name at the bottom.

“I've got a staff meeting at seven. My shift starts at eight and I will be there until six in the morning. What's up?”

“I got some fan mail from a little girl in your office.”

“You want me to drop off your reply?”

“Nah. Thought I'd be nice and bring you dinner or something. Envelope.” A manila envelope slid across her desk.

“Thanks, but I'm already packed for meals.”

“Your loss, girlfriend. Maybe I'll pop in and see you anyway.”

She heard Kris laugh. “You're always welcome. I've got the ER tonight.”

“I hope you aren't too busy, then. See you.” The connection broke. Ash thought for a moment. “Mentor, do we still have those stuffies?”

“I assume you mean of yourself. Yes, there are still some in stock.”

Setting the envelope with the photo inside, aside, Ash reached in the mail bin and pulled out another letter. The handwriting on it seemed familiar. It was addressed to her. The return address was missing. She slipped a letter opener under the flap. Pulling the letter out and unfolding it, she scanned the page.

“Sonofabitch.”

13 hours ago, unclevlad said:

 

Because they're trial drugs.  They've generally passed several tests already, but the human body is complex, and doesn't react the same.  Bad Things can happen.

 

In this case too...let's take the vaccines.  The ramp-up from trials to mass distribution was VERY fast.  There was a non-zero chance that there would be surprises...and in this context, a surprise is a Very Bad Thing.  Had that happened, there may well have been a significant number of cases...and therefore BIG!!!! lawsuits...without the waivers.  It was a reasonable precaution to wait a bit...not hop up to the front of the line to get the first shots, and let more data build.  

So, then the vaccines are a trial drug, but people that don't have to get it are perfectly comfortable trying to force it on the general populace?

https://media.tghn.org/medialibrary/2011/04/BMJ_No_7070_Volume_313_The_Nuremberg_Code.pdf

9 hours ago, Old Man said:

"All this has to be the best treatment news we’ve had since the beginning of the pandemic"

 

If there's one thing about this pandemic that went right, it's the vaccines and medications.

Then why do the companies that make them have waivers of liability? Why are members of Congress exempt from any mandates they attempt to push?

Didn't he end up being the mail boy at Wolfram & Hart?

I don't recall them being anywhere except the box of miniatures. Might be the counterpoint to the hero box that had 2 "Do It Yourself" heroes. Grenadier made minis. Have 2 extra and stat them up yourself.

Added some images.

13 hours ago, Old Man said:

Um. What state is this? I’d like to know so that I don’t go there, ever. 

Sounds like New Mexico.